The majority of golf balls commercially available today can be grouped into two general classes: solid and wound. Solid golf balls include one-piece, two-piece, and multi-layer golf balls. One-piece golf balls are inexpensive and easy to construct, but have limited playing characteristics and their use is usually confined to the driving range. Two-piece balls are generally constructed with a polybutadiene solid core and a cover and are typically the most popular with recreational golfers because they are very durable and provide good distance. These balls are also relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture, but are regarded by top players as having limited playing characteristics. Multi-layer golf balls are comprised of a solid core and a cover, either of which may be formed of one or more layers. These balls are regarded as having an extended range of playing characteristics, but are more expensive and difficult to manufacture than the one- and two-piece golf balls.
Wound golf balls, which typically include a fluid-filled center surrounded by tensioned elastomeric material and a cover, are preferred by many players due to their spin and “feel” characteristics but are more difficult and expensive to manufacture than are most solid golf balls. Manufacturers are constantly striving, therefore, to produce a solid ball that retains the beneficial characteristics of a solid ball while concurrently exhibiting the beneficial characteristics of a wound ball.
Golf ball playing characteristics, such as compression, velocity, feel, and spin, can be adjusted and optimized by manufacturers to suit players having a wide variety of playing abilities. For example, manufacturers can alter any or all of these properties by changing the polymer compositions and/or the physical construction of each or all of the various golf ball components, i.e., centers, cores, intermediate layers, and covers. Finding the right combination of core and layer materials and the ideal ball construction to produce a golf ball suited for a predetermined set of performance criteria is a challenging task.
In their efforts to construct multi-layer golf balls that have the benefits of both solid and wound balls, manufacturers have been focusing on the use of ionomeric compositions for the cover layers. However, it can be difficult to provide good “feel” characteristics in a golf ball with the use of ionomers, which tend to provide a “plastic feel.”
Therefore, there is a need to construct golf balls using non-ionmeric materials for at least two of the three cover layers.